Please note this question was answered in 2012. The coding advice may or may not be outdated.
35697
Date: Mar 22, 2012
Question:
Greetings, Pt. has a gunshot wound to the aorta. It is repaired with sutures (3 5221). Two weeks later the physician takes the Pt. back for a pseudoaneurysm to the aorta at the same location close to the SMA. He repairs the aorta with a bovine patch and dissects the SMA added a harvested piece of saphenous vein and attached this to the SMA then reattached the SMA to the aorta in a different location (35081 with 35531 with a 78 modifier. Not to confident that I have the right codes/ worried if this is a bypass. Am I correct in the choice of codes. I need to give feedback to the physician. LW
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